One-Act Plays: A Mysterious Script, Human Consciousness

November 10, 2013

The 2013 One-Act Play Festival at Alma College features five plays, directed by Alma College students, titled “Scripted,” “Don’t Think So Hard,” “Broken Hearts,” “Birdbrain” and “Twenty Dollar Drinks.”

The annual One-Act Play Festival gives upper-level theatre students at Alma College the invaluable experience of directing their own plays.

Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for seniors 62 and up, and free for Alma College staff, students and youth 18 and under. Seating is reserved. Call (989) 463-7304 for ticket information.

“Scripted,” written by Mark Harvey Levine and directed by Lansing junior Jake McAskill, focuses on a couple, Elaine and Simon, who find a script on their nightstand marking their every emotion, action and word for an entire day. Their views of how their lives should be carried out clash when the quality of their lives is brought to light through the mysterious script.

“Don’t Think So Hard,” written by Hope Gatto and directed by Shelby Township junior Sara Day, features a newly married couple, Celeste and Alan, in their apartment in a suburb of Chicago. Celeste sees a problem in their relationship and tries to fix it by reading relationship books. Alan is unaware of the problem and hates the books she reads.

“Broken Hearts,” written by Kevin McLeod and directed by Alma senior Tara Riedel, is about a woman named Dianne who wakes up in a strange place that she learns is unconsciousness. Below her is consciousness, and through a door next to her is the Great Beyond. Dianne meets a woman named Margaret who has passed on and is watching over the loved ones she left behind. While watching her heart transplant occurring below her, Dianne struggles with the decision of staying where she is or returning back to consciousness.

“Birdbrain,” written by Claire Cox and directed by Grosse Point Woods senior Shelby Marie Schroeder, focuses on a businesswoman named Elaine who lives in Chicago. Elaine will do anything to have the perfect life and family, even if it means giving away one of her own children. Elaine tries to give her son away to her assistant Fern, believing that she will finally have the perfect family if she does.

The festival also will feature “Twenty Dollar Drinks,” written by Joe Pintauro and directed by Boyne City junior Cody Scott Beebe.